We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Right-size boxes make cents
applications

Right-size boxes make cents

August 9, 2017
Diane Rand
No Comments

As a wholesale distributor of a wide range of consumer electronics, Oklahoma City-based Petra Industries was looking to improve its order fulfillment operations before peak holiday shipping season last year. One area that needed a fix was its "Christmas Wrap" packing line.

Contrary to what its name might suggest, the Christmas Wrap line was not a value-added station where employees added gift-wrapping and bows. Rather, it was an area devoted to packing items like outdoor speakers that did not fit into standard-sized boxes or were too large for envelopes. Workers here individually wrapped each item using a flexible corrugate material, resulting in a covering that resembled a Christmas wrapping. Trouble was, the process was inefficient and added costs due to low throughput. Although this particular packing line represented only 3 to 5 percent of the company's overall output, it offered an obvious opportunity for improvement.

Johnny Arballo, outbound manager, and Mike Williams, outbound supervisor, began exploring options to fix their troubled packing line. They quickly zeroed in on the idea of "right-size boxes"—corrugate boxes made to the exact length, width, and height requirements of the item (or items) being shipped. To provide the necessary equipment, the Petra executives turned to Box on Demand (BOD), a Battle Creek, Mich.-based company that specializes in packaging and box-making technology.

After evaluating Petra's operations, the team from Box on Demand came up with equipment recommendations as well as a plan for improving the floor layout and order fulfillment flow. Petra gave the project the green light, but it soon became clear the recommendations would have to be implemented in stages. The timeline called for Petra's equipment to be delivered and installed in early November 2016, smack in the middle of its peak shipping season. In the interests of minimizing disruption, the partners decided to hold off on the process improvements for the time being and simply "fit" the equipment—a Nextmode 2.5 box-making machine and Matrix dimensioning scan table—into the existing operation.

Even with a less-than-optimal packing line setup, the BOD system quickly proved its worth, according to the companies. The packing time was reduced from a high of two minutes per package to 30 seconds.

Once peak season ended, the partners moved the BOD machine and dimensioning table to their permanent location, positioning the box machine so that its output faced the shipping docks. They also added a roller conveyor to facilitate material flow and created two pack lines, with a packer assigned to each station

Under the new system, a BOD machine operator retrieves items to be shipped in a given order from the pack cart, scans their dimensions, and sends the data to the BOD machine. As the machine makes the box, the operator uses the conveyor to move the products down the line. The operator then glues the box and places it with the order in front of the packing lines. The two packers select orders from the conveyor on a first-in/first-out basis to complete the packing process.

As for the results, Petra reports that it has seen a number of benefits. For one thing, having the right-size box for each order has eliminated the time and costs associated with adding void fill, which has helped in turn to eliminate excessive dimensional-weight shipping charges. The revised layout has freed up 72 square feet of floor space, allowing for a streamlined and safe fork truck lane, and the box-making machine has reduced corrugate costs by 18 percent. On top of that, the process has reduced labor allocated to the non-standard packaging line by one person, freeing up a worker for other tasks, while minimizing physical strain on workers and boosting productivity.

Material Handling Order Fulfillment & Packing Cartons & Containers
KEYWORDS Box on Demand Petra Industries
  • Related Articles

    Make the right (power) play

    ProMatDX 2021: Businesses need to “right-size” the automation level for their operation

Dianerand
Diane Rand is Associate Editor and has several years of magazine editing and production experience. She previously worked as a production editor for Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review. She joined the editorial staff in 2015. She is responsible for managing digital, editorial, and production projects for DC Velocity and its sister magazine, Supply Chain Quarterly.

Recent Articles by Diane Rand

Answering a “hirer” calling: interview with Charlie Saffro

We have a plastics problem

Build-A-Bear goes all in on omnichannel—in just four weeks

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Schneider welcomes first battery-electric truck

  • Fred Smith is not worried about Amazon

  • RJW LOGISTICS GROUP EXPANDS RETAIL LOGISTICS OPERATION TO DALLAS

  • Researchers: Ships can look to Mother Nature for energy-saving ideas

  • Maersk deploys indoor drones for warehouse inventory counts

Now Playing on DCV-TV

C8c3bc6b a91d 4181 a18f 35f288257630

ACPaQ: Fast and reliable automated mixed case palletizer

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
Fully Automated Mixed Case Palletizing ACPaQ is a universally applicable solution for fully automated order picking of mixed case pallets based on customers‘ requirements. Its software allows you to customize the palletizing order to increase efficiency during in-store replenishment. The mixed case palletizer...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • The five best applications for robotic lift trucks in warehouse environments

  • Fulfillment Facility Improved Efficiencies by 4x

  • 3PLs: Complete Orders Faster with Flexible Automation

  • Reusable Packaging for the New Wave of Supply Chain Automation

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2023. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing